Lawlessness on the rise in Jigjiga

Friday, 06 December 2013 01:03
Ogaden Online

The houses of civilians can be searched at any time by securities in Jijiga, Ogaden, Eastern Ethiopia. The securities do take the properties of civilians such as mobile phones, laptops and money. Those who do not carry local identity cards are held on suspicion. Residents of the town say, Jijiga has become a place of suffering to Ethiopians even worse than Saudi Arabia is.

According to some sources the problem exacerbated and got complex after Al Shabab left warning text messages on the mobile phone of the regional president of the Ethiopia Somali region, Abdi Mohammed. The Group reportedly warned the Pesident that it would take action if the Nationalities Day is celebrated in the region this month. A man, who was suspected of having links with the Group, has been kidnapped and taken to the woodland where he was beaten to death by the securities. Securities later on paid 50 thousand birr to the deceased’s family as compensation. Another young lady has also reportedly been taken to the Central Prison and was raped there.

ESAT has leant that some cabinet members of the Addis Abeba City Administration have expressed their disinterest of taking part in the Nationalities Day celebration to be held on December 8, 2013 in Jijiga, Ogaden due to peace and security concerns. Following this, senior officials are writing strongly-worded letters ordering the cabinet members to take part in the event.

In the meantime, ESAT was handed a discussion paper prepared by the Ethiopian House of Federation and the Somali regional government for the 8th Ethiopian Nations Nationalities and Peoples’ Day celebration.

The discussion paper contains some contentious articles and statements. For instance at one section it says “the Abyssinian nobilities had only travelled to the desert to loot the cattle resource. In the name of eliminating bandits, Emperor Menelik II’s army, had for example looted over 50 thousand cattle and were sent to Harar via Jijiga in 1902.”

It also criticises Emperor Haile Selassie and his administration for “failing and discriminating the people and buying clan leaders”. The paper narrates that better opportunities have been brought during the current administration of the EPRDF regime